Thank you for your question.
You submitted your question without a photo but you state in your question that you’re
18-years-old with genetic pattern loss and that you tried minoxidil 5 months ago but
you described that any hair that might have regrown has been lost since that time. And
you’re asking, can a combination of minoxidil and low level laser light therapy help you
regrow your hair more permanently.
Well, I can certainly share with you how I approach situations like yours even though
I don’t have specific data such as your appearance and your family history but I can
certainly share with you my perspectives doing this in my own practice. A little bit of background,
I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial plastic and
reconstructive surgeon. I have been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years.
Hair transplant and hair loss treatment is a very significant part of my practice. In
fact, I am the founder of TrichoStem™ Hair Regeneration Centers. This is a system we
developed over 7 years ago starting at the time that evolved out of improving hair transplant
outcomes and what we ultimately developed is a treatment system for genetic pattern
hair loss for men and women with a variety of case scenarios which I will discuss in
further detail moving forward.
So understand that genetic pattern hair loss is something that’s hardwired in the DNA
and that what we are doing in medical practice is essentially either managing the progression
or managing the consequence. So what does that mean? Well when we talk about hair transplant
surgery, you’re essentially talking about placing hair grafts where there is hair loss
so that you can try to manage the consequence of the progression of hair loss.
When it comes to medical therapy, you’ve already tried minoxidil and you’ve in a
way observed how effective this drug can be in your situation. Although the exact mechanism
of how minoxidil works is not known, we know that through observation, that it appears
to prolong the growth cycles of thinning hair. Now that is dependent of course on the length
of that growth cycle.
So when I look at patients who have younger onset and very aggressive progression, that
means that the number of growth cycles they are entitled to have programmed in the DNA
is few and they are rapidly getting shorter and shorter. So you may have some effective
prolongation of your hair growth cycle but you saw that it was not sustainable.
Now in the question of low level laser light therapy, certainly, it’s a very popular
treatment that people buy in various forms either in forms of combs, helmets or go into
professional circumstances where they can go and sit under a light. We’ve had experience
with this strategy before we were doing Hair Regeneration and I have to say that over my
experience, I’m not that impressed. I feel like that when we do anything, we want to
see very strong tangible results. We actually had a patient come in from another country
who bought the professional model of the low level light laser therapy device used in a
doctor’s office in her own home and she spent over 20 thousand dollars for this device
and sat under in a very disciplined manner for 3 years and ultimately got frustrated
and flew over and we did her injection.
So I think that one thing you have to understand when you ask about the question about “permanently”,
is that in medicine, we don’t have permanent solutions for hair loss. What we have are
management strategies. And so I think that my approach especially for a younger patient
with your type of scenario is that I would ask you to consider taking a DHT blocker,
dihydrotestosterone blocker such as finasteride. Finasteride blocks an enzyme called 5-alpha
reductase which converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. And essentially, it’s almost by definition,
my perception is that younger people with early onset hair loss are more DHT sensitive
than their contemporaries. Of course, other variables probably play a role but this is
one variable you can do something about. So I would suggest you consider taking a DHT
blocker.
Now our treatment Hair Regeneration which is briefly a combination of Acellular matrix
which is used for wound healing combined with PRP or platelet-rich plasma. As I explained
earlier, it evolved out of hair transplant. We were using it for hair grafts to heal better
and for the donor area to heal better. And then we realized that thinning hair also became
thicker. Well, it took several years to develop systems based on customization for individual
patient categories. And the variables I take into account include gender, age of onset,
rate of progression and degree of hair loss in formulating the concentrations as well
as the method of delivery. And so, we developed a system.
And what I try to explain to younger patients is that, essentially, your hair loss progression
is more aggressive than somebody whose onset is later. Someone let’s say who’s losing
hair in their mid to later 30s and is slowly progressing so that they have moderate hair
loss by the time they hit their mid 40s. That’s a very different clinical scenario than a
younger patient with aggressive hair loss.
So that being said, we have to think of this strategy of how do we prolong the growth cycle
of the hair as long as possible and maximize coverage. So that’s why we commonly will
combine a DHT blocker with Hair Regeneration. Although a DHT blocker may slow down progression
and may allow for some growth of hair, it does not stimulate hair growth and this is
something we’ve been able to make distinctions with where someone who has been on finasteride,
when we add the Hair Regeneration treatment and we again customize it for the individual
patient, we’re able to see the reactivation of hair that hasn’t been growing and the
prolongation of the growth cycles that otherwise would’ve been shortened and eventually been
lost. The question of course is how long. And for certain categories of patients, we’ve
been able to establish more than 5 years of longevity. And with very specific younger
people, it’s a little bit harder and we have to try to do this in 2-3 years jumps
to try to maximize the longevity of the hair growth cycles. Again, it is about individualization.
So I think that one thing that will potentially have a more significant impact than what you’re
doing alone would be a DHT blocker. Understand that hair loss is progressive and depending
on your genetics and family history but I think that it’s worth investigating a DHT
blocker and the technology behind Hair Regeneration and see if these things may be applicable
in your situation.
So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question.